Non-Open Ended Art- Train mosaic

I have to thank my friend Shannon for hosting the most wonderful carnival. It is normally Open Ended Art, but this week we are sharing our crafts. Check it out here.

Monkey loves this kit I bought off of Amazon.

It basically has a piece of cardboard with designs on it and then either a square, triangle or circle outline (in color). Then the child peels off the foam shapes and places them in the “correct” spot. Now, some kids may not like this, but Monkey loves this sort of thing.

He loves that everything has a place. When projects are more open ended he will glue a couple of things and be done. But this, he sat for over 20 minutes and meticulously placed each shape in the correct spot. LOVED IT!

Here is the finished train:

He has started the boat, rocket and the helicopter but not finished any of them yet.

They also have kits of pets and pretty things (which is definitely girly).

Turkey Counting

I made a new game for Monkey to practice his counting. He can count great, but he really needs practice with the actual pointing and counting. He seems to miss items when he is counting.

I bought this foam turkey kit at Michaels for like 4.99 on sale. Monkey and I put them together, then I drew dots (1 to 10) on each turkey.

Then using a pin the hat on the pumpkin game I bought from the dollar bin at Target, I made a game board (basically I wrote the number 1-10 on it).

So now Monkey has to count and then match the the turkey to the correct space.

Monkey was acting super cool when this picture was taken. (I swear he looks like he has had way too much fun on Halloween).

He seems to really like the game.

Pumpkin fun!

We had a blast with our pumpkins this year. Both boys were really into it.

Even Alligator got into the spirit of the holiday. Here he is feeling the gooey guts!

Monkey enjoyed himself as well. He hammered pegs into his pumpkin. He was very serious about this process. I swear he didn’t move from his seat for 20 minutes. He was totally into it!

And here I am working away on the pumpkins. I am showing this picture primarily because there are very few pictures of me, and even fewer where I look half-way-decent.

So here are the finished pumpkins! We decorated a pumpkin for everyone. Alligator and his pumpkin both have one top middle tooth.

This is slightly off topic. But, I just have to share a picture of Alligator in his new baby legs. I love how cute he looks. I had never bought them before, but man he is precious in them!

Our First Sensory tubs/toys

Well I finally got around to making a sensory tub. Thank you Mommies Wise Little Bookworms, for the idea. To see her post click here.

I made a tub with orange rice, and placed in it some Halloween themed plastic toys. This has been a huge hit with my little Monkey!

 

I also placed the orange rice in a plastic bottle, with a couple of Halloween themed rings. I then hot glued it shut. Alligator loves this toy. In fact both boys do. They fight over it!

I am looking forward to turning these into Thanksgiving themed toys.

Top 5…Halloween Candy

Superheroes and Princesses has a blog carnival for our top 5s. And this week it is top 5 candy. You know I had to participate in that!

 

1. Reece’s Peanut Butter cups. I love Peanut Butter and Chocolate together.

2. Dove milk chocolate. I love the way it melts in my mouth. It is so smooth.

3. Take 5, I love the salt and sweet together.

4. Snickers, the peanuts count as protein right?

5. Baby Ruth…Yum-oh

Trying out Microsoft Live Writer

This is a test post to see if Microsoft Live writer actually works.

So far I am noticing the adding pictures is alot quicker and easier.

Not sure about the background color, I had to change the font color because I couldn’t see it. I will be interested to see what happens when I actually upload it.

Tub of Goooo.....

I got this idea from The Mailbox. I put shaving cream and shredded cotton balls in a tub. And mixed it up. Then I added some plastic orange and black spiders. I buried the spiders and let Monkey search for them. I thought he would be willing to touch it so I gave him some tongs. I thought he could sort the bugs by color. But, we just had so much fun with the goop that we didn't really sort.

After a while, he really got into it. He got some on his hand and wiped it on the table and then started having a ball.

I went and grabbed some cars so he could drive cars throug the "snow" and leave tracks.

He was great about helping me clean up too. I let him man the sprayer at the sink and he rinsed all the bugs and cars.

We will definatly do this again!

Back to Blogging

Hello again,

I had decided about a week ago to give up blogging. I even went so far as to erase the blog. I had various reasons; it is very time consuming, not many readers, and various others that I don't care to mention.

But, then I got to thinking that being a blogger was a great way of keeping memories for my children. It is like a time capsule, and whether or not anyone reads it doesn't matter. It is something that my children and I will cherish.

So I am back to blogging!

Thanks to those of you who do read my little blog, and to all of you whose blogs I read! Keep it up ladies!

Our Halloween Costumes!

Here are our Halloween Costumes.

Monkey is a pirate, of course on Halloween he will be wearing shoes!

Alligator is a monster, and the cutest one I have ever seen!